My poor family

[etumukutenyak]

Such is the life of a veterinarian's family, even though I'm not in private practice. Someone at church asked my partner if I could help them with their elderly ill cat, and I could not in good conscience refuse to do so. So this evening, instead of our planned outing to a minature golf course and dinner, we went to a house call. I euthanized her cat while my family sat in the car. The euthanasia part went smoothly and swiftly, and then they had to sit with the dear departed for nearly an hour. I can't hurry that, so I sat and talked about cats and asked questions about their loved one. Finally they were ready to let go, so I could carry the body to the crematory (which will be tomorrow). We scrounged something from TJ's and are making dinner quickly before bed.

Honey promises me she will have bad dreams about the cat in our freezer tonight. Kedgie and Brady are investigating the box and are probably telling each other to be good. I will sleep well only after much thought.

::pacing, pondering::

Comments

[davefreer.livejournal.com]

Actually, I hope you did sleep very well that night. You did something very much needed, and did it well. It's not an easy task, but I am enormously glad there are vets to help us do it.

Dave

[etumukutenyak.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Technically, I was quite pleased as I ensured a smooth and fast euthanasia in their home. There was no stress on the cat. The rest of the visit was fairly typical as they talked about bringing home a "female" kitten, when the kids knew darned well it was a male but Mom had requested a female. The other cat was wandering around sticking his nose in my bag of veterinary goodies. No goodies for him, though.

Emotionally, it was difficult for me; as usual, cats are the one species I have a hard time putting down. I don't mean that I can coldly euthanize any other species, but it's particularly rough for me when it's a cat. I'm lucky if I can see what I'm doing. That's the part that keeps me waking up during the night, remembering the cats of my life. And their ends. I have to wrench my mind out of remembering the ends.

I still have to go get the ashes from the crematory for the family. It's a very warm office, oddly enough. ;-)